Boateng points finger at Brown

Hull City midfielder George Boateng has put the boot into Phil Brown after claiming the former manager is to blame for their impending drop into the Championship.

Skipper Boateng claims Brown, who was placed on gardening leave by the ailing Tigers last month, is responsible for their demise following a catalogue of errors dating back to his infamous half-time teamtalk on the pitch at the City of Manchester Stadium.

His decision to lambast his players in full view of the fans when they were trailing 4-0 to Manchester City on Boxing Day 2008 was the beginning of their downfall.

Saturday's 1-0 home defeat to Sunderland effectively relegated the Tigers – now managed by Iain Dowie – from the Premier League.

"If I go back to December a year and a half ago when we played Manchester City away, that's when all the problems started," claimed Boateng.

"The team felt disrespected that day, the team didn't feel appreciated. We were sixth in the league, we'd lost two consecutive games and we didn't feel like we deserved to be treated like that at half-time, like a bunch of kids.

"Phil Brown asked me to come here. I had a year to go with Middlesbrough on better wages, I left that because Phil Brown needed an experienced Premier League midfielder.

"I didn't come here for money but then six months later, to be treated that way, I felt very disrespected. It had an effect on me, it had an effect on all the players. We covered it up but it took us a long time to recover from that."

Boateng is now hoping to earn a new contract with another top-flight club with his contract at the KC Stadium set to expire at the end of the current season.